Disappear With the Wind
by Kalashnikov2092
Summary: This is the life of Uzumaki Naruto after he succeeded in retrieving Uchiha Sasuke. As he moves on as a brand new shinobi, he must deal with the repercussions of the mission. To the day that he dies. NO PAIRING! EVER!
1. The Prolouge: The Last Accomplice

Disappear With the Wind

A Naruto/Bleach crossover fic by Kalashnikov 2092

The Prologue: The Last Accomplice

"**Man delights not me."**

William Shakespeare, _Hamlet_

/

His eyes looked across this place.

This place that held the protectors of life.

The Shinigami.

Oh, how he found the Shinigami quite annoying, though he himself was technically one. His zanpakutō hung on his belt, the curve of the blade facing downwards, instead of the usual opposite that most others used. He rested his forearm on its blue and gold hilt, ready to draw his weapon at a moment's notice. He was in enemy territory now, so such precautions were necessary.

His blade gently rested on his belt. It was certainly elegant looking with the blue and gold hilt, the silver pommel, and the golden guard consisting of four intertwining crescents with their backs facing towards each other (**K2092: picture link on my profile**). It was a weapon that had claimed so much life that any other owner wouldn't be able remember the count. However, the present owner knew the exact number. He never forgot.

"Arrive, Taiki Araware (_Atmosphere Embodiment_)," he whispered. He felt his blade pulse within its sheath, changing its form secretly.

"Preparing yourself? I didn't take you as the skittish kind," a mocking voice asked. He immediately recognized the owner of such a voice. Turning, he looked into the slitted eyes of Ichimaru Gin. His fox-like grin was present as always.

Turning his eyes back to the horizon, he responded, "Believe what you like Ichimaru. I am simply thinking ahead. There is a chance we'll be dealing with the likes of the Captain-Commander. It would be best to have Taiki Araware released if we fight him, or any other Captain for that matter."

"My my, touchy, aren't we?" Ichimaru asked as he stepped up next to Taiki Araware's weilder. "But I kid. I came to tell you that we need to get everything started. Kira's all ready to confront Hitsugaya-san and Rangiku-san, and they're soon going to run into him. I need to go meet Hinamori in the council chamber. Would you like to join me?"

"I suppose I will," he answered. He pulled his straw hat down in front of his eyes a bit, before disappearing into thin air. Gin couldn't help but grin at the man. He always was acting so mysterious. However, he couldn't help but to respect his comrade. His strength was indeed larger than Gin's, but he never went around flaunting it. He used his skill seldom, trying to keep his techniques as discreet as possible. When he actually did attack, his enemy would be dead before ever realizing what his secret was. It was truly frightening, if one thought about it.

"Oh well," Gin mused. He disappeared soon after, following his fellow enemy of the state to the council chamber.

/

Gin arrived to find Hinamori looking around the council chamber in confusion. She was most likely wondering what direction Hitsugaya had traveled. Gin's comrade was hiding himself within the shadows, watching the girl with his vibrant blue eyes. She couldn't see him of course. If the man really wanted to, he could have hid himself so well that Gin wouldn't have been able to catch sight of him.

Gin stepped up behind Momo, his amusement apparent on his face. "Welcome, Hinamori-chan."

She turned to him, her face alight with surprise. He inwardly chuckled at her reaction before stepping past her to walk down the stairs to the floor of the chamber.

"This is...the Seijotokyorin...the residential district for the Central 46. Why did you bring me here, Captain Ichimaru?" the girl asked, the unease shining through her voice.

Gin continued walking forward, approaching a tall doorway to another room. "Have you ever been here, Hinamori-chan?"

Perplexed, Hinamori answered, "No way...isn't this place off limits to everyone? This is the first time I've ever seen it."

Now Gin stood within the next room, it being completely dark. She hesitantly followed the captain into the blackness. Not turning around, Gin stated, "There is someone in here that wants to see you, Hinamori-chan." Her eyes widened at that.

"Someone...wants to meet _me?_"

"That's correct," Gin answered, turning back to her. "Go on, look right behind you."

"Behind me? Who is it?" she asked, confusion showing across her features. As she turned to look who it was, her confusion turned into complete and utter shock.

It was her captain.

Her captain that had been found dead, tacked to a wall with his own sword. Now he stood before her, _alive_, and the same as he always was. His kind smile mesmerized her and almost brought out a blush.

It was Sosuke Aizen.

"Cap...Captain? Captain Aizen?" she spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

His kind smile grew a bit, and then he said, "It has been some time, Hinamori-kun."

She took a few steps towards him, tears beginning to blur her vision. "Captain Aizen...is it really you? I...I thought you were dead!"

"It's okay. As you can see, I'm alive."

She stumbled towards him now, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Captain Aizen...I...I... _oh Captain Aizen_," she spoke, her love for him becoming too much for her to bear. She gently grasped the front of his robe.

He placed his hand on top her head, saying, "I'm sorry for worrying you, Hinamori-kun."

She felt so relieved. He was alive! Captain Aizen, her pillar of strength, was still alive. She began to sob into his chest, the relief of this revelation being too large for her _not _tocry.

His arms encircled her, and she reveled in the feeling. "You look even more frail than before. It's my deepest apologies for making you suffer this much. But I hope you can understand."

"Stop lying to the girl, Aizen."

Hinamori's eyes snapped open at the new voice. After it spoke, Hinamori found that then air had become slightly colder. Not in the sense of temperature, but in the sense that the happiness she had been enjoying simply vanished, robbing her of the feeling's warmth. She separated from Aizen's embrace to look at the newcomer. As she did, she could see that Aizen's smile had transformed into a slight frown. Whoever this man was, Aizen wasn't happy about his presence.

Looking past her captain, she laid eyes on the one who had spoken. He was a lot taller than Aizen, at least a half a foot. However it was hard to see any of his other physical features. He wore a high-collared black cloak and an oriental straw hat that hid his face. However, he was a Shinigami. That was for sure, for the man wore a zanpakutō on his belt. Some other things she picked up were the wooden sandals on his feet and the pair of sapphire eyes gazing from behind the veil of his hat.

"If you are going to kill the girl, then don't get her hopes up with all these apologies," the man said. Hinamori's eyes widened at the accusation. Was this man implying that her Captain Aizen intended to kill her?

"You should have killed her before she ever turned around. It would have saved her the grief of knowing that the man she holds so high killed her. It seems I'll have to do it instead."

Hinamori's eyes widened even further, if that was possible. A long, deep gash suddenly appeared diagonally across her chest and stomach, effectively filleting her. She stood completely frozen for a moment, watching her blood arc through the air. She gave one last look at her captain, and found herself frightened at the cold way Aizen regarded her. Directly afterwards, the girl collapsed in a heap, the trauma of the wound being too much.

Aizen sighed as he watched her fall. Turning to the man that had just killed his former lieutenant, Aizen said, "I would have taken care of her in due time. Oh well. Let's go, Gin."

Gin's smile grew a little wider as he said, "Yes, Captain Aizen." The third man gave no conformation in any way, simply walking towards the door. The two followed suit shortly after.. They stepped back into the chamber were the Central 46 lay slain, meeting a very surprised Hitsugaya Toshiro.

"Ichimaru and...Aizen?" the young captain asked in surprise.

Aizen waved at him, saying, "Yo, Hitsugaya-kun."

"Aizen, enough of these joyous reunions. I'm not here to dawdle. I don't like hanging around the Seireitei. Let's get the Kuchiki girl and get out of here," the third man spoke.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened at the man's words, saying, "What are you talking about? Aizen, what's going on here? And where's Hinamori?"

"She's dead, Hitsugaya Toshiro. I cut her down myself. Though, if I wouldn't have, then Aizen would have done it eventually," the third answered in Aizen's place.

Outrage exploded throughout Toshiro. "Is this true? You let this man kill Hinamori!"

"I'm afraid so, Toshiro-kun."

The white haired boy flash stepped past the three of them, coming to a stop in front of his friend's bloody form.

"How unfortunate. You seem to have found her," Aizen called. "I apologize if the sight makes you feel a bit upset. Before you could have found her, I should have chopped her into unrecognizable pieces. Perhaps that would have been easier on you."

"What is the meaning of this?" Hitsugaya ground out. "Since when were you in leagues with Ichimaru and this other guy?"

"Since the very beginning," Aizen answered.

Toshiro tensed in fury, saying, "Before you faked your death, Aizen?"

"Oh Toshiro-kun, I'm so sorry that you're this slow. I said 'very beginning.' Since I became a captain in the Gotei 13, I never thought of anyone better to align myself with. I even chose Gin as my lieutenant. This other fellow, however, wasn't in the Gotei 13. I've had him doing other things for me."

"So you mean," Hitsugaya began. "That from the very beginning...to me...to the other Shinigami...to_ Hinamori_...to everybody! You deceived us all!"

Shaking his head, Aizen answered, "It wasn't my intention to deceive you all. It's simply this: not one of you, _not one_, could see my true face."

Hitsugaya whirled around to look at his former comrade, his face a mask of pure hatred. "We couldn't see? You must have known that Hinamori admired you! Because of this admiration, she joined the Gotei 13! Because of you, she worked endlessly to become your vice-captain!"

Aizen surprised the young captain by giving him a smile. "I know!" the traitor spoke. "There's nothing easier than controlling a person that blindly admires you. That's why I took Hinamori under my wing. This is a very good opportunity for you to learn an important lesson, Hitsugaya-kun. Admiration is a feeling _furthest _from understanding."

That did it. That finally made Hitsugaya snap. He tore his sword from its sheath and swung it, obliterating the area before him. His three opponents jumped backwards, dodging the attack completely.

Still gripping his blade, Toshiro got out "BAN-" before he was stopped.

The third had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grasping Toshiro by his throat and knocking his sword from his grasp. The man pulled up Toshiro to eye level, staring directly at the youngest captain of the Gotei 13.

"That's quite enough, boy. I already told Aizen that I wasn't here to dawdle. So now I'm afraid that I'll have to remove you from our path."

Something powerful and heavy crushed into Toshiro's chest, shattering his ribs instantaneously. The force behind whatever it was sent Hitsugaya sailing away, into a pillar. The stone structure was shattered by the bullet that was Toshiro's body, falling on top of the boy.

"My, you really did a number on him. I could hear his ribs crack all the way over here!" Gin called.

"Seeing as how you're finished, may we go now? I'd hate to leave our guest waiting," Aizen said. The third nodded and pulled his hat down a bit before appearing next to Aizen and Gin. The three of them turned to leave, but another voice interrupted them.

"I thought you would be here, Captain Aizen."

It was Captain Unohana Retsu. She stood there with her lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane.

"No, you are no longer worthy of that title," Unohana continued. "Isn't that right? Treacherous reprobate, Sosuke Aizen."

Unaffected, Aizen replied, "Hello, Captain Unohana. I was thinking, if someone were to arrive, it would be about now. Was it easy to figure out?"

Frowning, Retsu said, "In the Seireitei, there is a single place where entry is unquestionably forbidden under any circumstance. That place is where we stand now, the Seijotokyorin. If you wished to conceal your presence, so much that you used such a well-made 'corpse doll' for it, you would also have to choose the best hiding place. There is no place better to hide in Seireitei than here."

There was silence for a second. Then, a chuckle from Aizen.

"A sane deduction. Even though your basic theory is correct, you made only two mistakes. One, I did not come to this place to hide. Secondly...this is not a 'corpse doll.'"

What Aizen held in his hand shocked both Unohana and Isane. He held an exact replica of himself, though it was completely lifeless.

Still shocked, Isane asked, "When did he take it out!"

"'Take it out?' Why, that is such a silly question. I've had this in my hand the entire time," Aizen said, his eyes filled with a knowing that gave Isane the chills. "Up until now, I simply didn't have it take its intended form."

Isane's shock, while not disappearing completely, lessened so she could feel confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Aizen gave the girl a calm smile. "You'll understand soon enough, my dear. Just watch carefully. Here goes! Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu (_Mirror Flower_)..."

The replica of Aizen seemed to shatter like glass. It had been a fake the entire time, for now the man only held his zanpakutō.

Seeing his two guests' shock, Aizen explained, "You see, my zanpakutō has a very unique power. I like to call it 'Absolute Hypnosis.'"

"No, that isn't right," Isane spoke. "Kyoka Suigetsu is a flowing-water-type zanpakutō. It distorts the reflections of fog to confuse your enemies, making them fight each other. That's what you told us, Captain Aizen! You gathered all the vice-captains and showed it to us! I saw it with my very own eyes!"

The man just gave her a smile, making Isane shiver. However, Unohana seemed to come to an understanding.

"I see," she said softly, catching her vice-captain's attention. "That is the ritual for your 'Absolute Hypnosis,' isn't it?"

Chuckling, Aizen responded, "Another good deduction, Unohana. 'Absolute Hypnosis' controls the five senses perfectly. Smell, shape, mass, feel, it is all under my blade's control. With Kyoka Suigetsu, I can make a dragon out of a salamander, a rain forest out of the desert. In the eyes of the hypnotized, at least. The only condition for its ritual is that someone must see the release of Kyoka Suigetsu. After just seeing it once, that person will-"

"Enough all ready. This is the third time I've been forced to speed along this thing. You talk too much, Aizen," the third interrupted, drawing a frown from Aizen.

Looking at Unohana, the third said, "I'll make it short for you. If one looks at Aizen's shikai, they fall under the hypnosis. By those standards, you must mean that one of your fellow captains has been with us all along. The blind one, Tousen, for if he is blind, he would be unable to be hypnotized. He should be doing his job right about now. So if you don't mind, we must make our escape."

The third tossed his hat into the air, two long pieces of clothing coming out of his sleeves as he did so. The cloths began to wrap around the three of them, drawing alarm from Isane. She recognized it as a teleportation kido. She ran forward to stop them, but knew it was too late. The three of them vanished into thin air, long gone.

Or so it would seem. Isane knew the kido that would track the reprobates down. "Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain. Bakudo Number 58: Kakushitsuijaku (_Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows_)!"

Her hand jammed into the ground for a second, creating a strange symbol.

She suddenly looked up to her captain, stating, "I've got their position. East 332, North 1566! They...they're at the Soukyoku."

At that moment, Isane realized that there was something wrong with her captain. Retsu did not seem to be listening to her. She simply looked on to where the three criminals had teleported, her face a portrait of shock and worry. Seeming to notice her subordinate's eyes, Retsu looked down.

That face...the one belonging to the third one...it was definitely _him_. Blond hair, blue eyes...there was no mistaking it.

"I see. Please locate all the captains and vice-captains and transmit to them everything we know about Sosuke Aizen, as well as his current position. Inform the ryoka, too..."

"Very well, I'll-"

"Also," Retsu added, stopping her vice-captain's sentence short. "Inform the Captain-Commander this:

"Uzumaki Naruto is helping Sosuke Aizen."

**END OF PROLOGUE**

This is simply the prologue. After this, the story will begin at the end of Naruto's battle with Sasuke. The story will continue from there, going through Naruto's ninja life first, and his Shinigami life after he dies. Enjoy.


	2. Living 1: Winning in the Face of Defeat

Disappear With the Wind

A Naruto/Bleach crossover fic by Kalashnikov2092

Living 1: Winning in the Face of Defeat

"**If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories."**

Richard M. Nixon

/

Sasuke's arm was buried deep into him. It hurt, he realized. It hurt more than the first time it had happened, that was for sure. Perhaps it was a side-effect of using the Kyuubi's chakra for so long. Any pain he felt was a thousand times worse than usual. The exhaustion of this battle with the boy he had come to consider his brother had taken everything out of him.

Blood painted the inside of his throat as it rose up the airway. His sight was becoming blurry...far too blurry for him to stay conscious much longer. As the sense of sight began to leave him, the other four were magnified a bit.

He could feel Sasuke's fingers twitching inside his chest cavity and the sensation of his Kyuubi cloak painfully burning his skin, though the latter was fading do to his coming loss of consciousness. The only thing he could hear was the massive roar of their clash, it being so loud that it was drowning out any other sounds. The foul scent that emitted from Sasuke was a mixture of snakes, blood, something akin to pure evil, and most of all, _death_. The taste of his own blood was sharper and more acrid as it finally came up out of his throat and flooded the inside of his mouth.

For some reason, Naruto's mind quickly wandered to the promise. Yes, _that _promise. A promise he had given to Haruno Sakura. He promised the girl that he'd bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha, and that he'd bring the bastard home alive. He knew that he was failing miserably as he thought of that promise. Sasuke had basically won the battle the moment they both decided to go for the final strike. Naruto had to bring back his metaphorical brother alive, so hitting him anywhere in the chest would have negated that. So, he had went for a scratch across the metal plate on Sasuke's headband. That had ultimately been his downfall.

Why had he gone for the stupid headband? Was he so unwilling to cause major harm to Sasuke that he'd settle for proving that he could scratch the boy's headband? Realizing now, he could have easily delivered his last strike to Sasuke's arms or legs, disabling him enough that help from Konoha could have gotten to the two of them. He would have stopped his brother and kept his promise at the same time.

Sure, he probably would have gotten chewed out by Sakura for hurting her precious Sasuke, and the villagers would have shared her sentiments. However, the shinobi community had begun to change. He'd been paying attention to his senior ninjas' conversations while walking through the streets. They'd been praising him for his match against Neji and his help in bringing Tsunade back. While he may not have been getting better in the eyes of civilians, his shinobi brethren thought otherwise.

But no, he had to be same fucking idiot he always was. He had to try and disprove some stupid boast from Sasuke, all the way back from the time they had fought on the hospital roof. He was a Konoha ninja, dammit! He shouldn't have let his past relationship with Sasuke cloud his mind and keep him from succeeding in his mission. Now he had let his home, Sakura, and most of all, himself, down.

"_No!"_

Fire exploded in Naruto's heart as his vision began to return to him. The fire was obviously determination. He'd become all too familiar with the feeling, looking back at his short but action-packed ninja career. However, the fire was incredible this time, dwarfing any other instance he had felt it. It ran throughout his entire being, dulling the pain in his muscles and chest. It was truly an incredible sensation, because he felt more powerful on this energy than the largest supply of the Kyuubi's chakra could ever produce.

His vision now completely restored, Naruto raised his head a bit. He was lying on the rocky shore of the lake, looking directly at the back of Uchiha Sasuke. The Uchiha boy was silently walking away, most likely going to Orochimaru. Too bad Naruto had other plans.

His hand slowly reached to his kunai pouch, producing two of the throwing knives. He passed one of them to his free hand. He took in a slow breath, and then the next few moments were an incredible blur.

Naruto suddenly sat up, though the act reminded him of how bad his muscles ached. However, the fire of determination burned away any of that pain in an instant. It simply forced him to focus. And focus he fuckin' did. He focused right on the back of Sasuke's legs, where the knee joints were. Those joints were his targets, and this time, he would not miss like in the academy. If he did, then he would fail, and failure was _not_ an option.

His arms flung the two steel weapons, their speed and power surprising to even him. He expected Sasuke to turn around and dodge the kunai like nothing. To show him just how much of a failure Uzumaki Naruto is, was, and always will be.

However, this did not happen at all. Not in the slightest. Whether it was due to that constant arrogance of his, or just simple fatigue, Sasuke never even realized that his opponent had regained his consciousness. The two kunai pierced the back of Sasuke's knees at the exact same time. The strike buckled Sasuke's legs, driving him to the ground in a yell of shock and pain. The two kunai had buried themselves so deeply into the Uchiha's flesh that the tips of the weapons poked out of his kneecaps.

Truly a painful way for Uchiha Sasuke to realize that Uzumaki Naruto wasn't finished yet.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, finding the blond giving him a vicious grin of victory. The boy, much to Sasuke's shock, began to rise to his feet. Naruto grimaced as his tired muscles were forced to get him to his feet. However, as soon as he was up, he felt loads better. Perhaps it was because the sense of accomplishment he felt from being able to pull this win out of his ass was _just_ _that good_.

"So, Sasuke. I guess I win, huh?" Naruto cockily asked with a very tired smile. It was not his usual face-splitting grins. It was smile, almost adult-like. For a moment, Sasuke thought Naruto looked much older than he actually was. It was very strange.

After wondering that, Sasuke felt that old rage begin to creep back into his mind. The rage that had forced him to join the Sound Four and nearly kill Naruto in the first place.

"Dammit Naruto!" the Uchiha roared. Naruto's smile turned upside down immediately.

"Shut the hell up. I don't care what the fuck you have to say, alright? You're damn lucky I didn't decide to throw those kunai into the back of your skull," Naruto growled, surprising himself with his own words. Since when did he feel...loathing? When did he start to despise Sasuke?

Glaring daggers at his teammate, Sasuke returned with, "You should have, dobe. Now I'm going to take back my mercy and kill you."

Naruto sneered back at his opponent, growling back with, "You sure you wanna do that Sasuke? I'm in a pretty rotten mood right now. I just might force this tired body of mine to fight you all out again. And even if I die, I swear I'll destroy one of your beloved Sharingan eyes before I'm done. You willing to risk that?"

Apparently, Sasuke did. Naruto's eyes narrowed as the curse mark began to spread over Sasuke's skin. The kunai lodged in the back of Sasuke's knees begin to slowly be pushed back out. This definitely wasn't good. He hardly had the power to stand, let alone go toe-to-toe with Sasuke on that fucking curse seal. However, there was no way he could back down now. By looking in Sasuke's eyes, he could tell that the boy planned to kill him. If that was the way it was going to be, he'd kill Sasuke if he had to. The promise he made to Sakura was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

Naruto slowly pulled out another kunai, getting in a defensive stance. He began to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra again, fully prepared to bring this battle to an end once and for all.

Then Sasuke had a kunai against his throat. It did not belong to Naruto. No, its owner was none other than Hatake Kakashi.

"That's quite enough, Sasuke," the lazy Jonin stated, though he looked quite serious at the moment. Naruto wanted to fall over in relief. He had never been so happy to see his sensei.

Sasuke didn't think it was "quite enough", however. The curse seal began to morph, turning into its much deadlier second stage. Kakashi's lone eye narrowed at the act, and Naruto growled in anger. Kakashi watched as his two pupils stared each other down. Kakashi then cursed as Naruto finally did begin channeling his prisoner's volatile chakra.

So before the two could go at it, Kakashi promptly sent a very powerful electric shock into the back of Sasuke's neck, using some nifty lightning manipulation.

The charge traveled through the boy's body at a ridiculous rate. Sasuke's curse seal receded due to him falling unconscious. The Uchiha toppled backwards, an act that drove the two kunai in his legs back into to their original position.

Seeing that his opponent was finally unconscious, Naruto sighed and stopped drawing the fox's energy. After doing so, Naruto collapsed backwards. Alarmed, Kakashi quickly ran over to his student's position. Kakashi was relieved to see that Naruto was still awake, albeit looking like he had been fighting for forever. His exhaustion was clear, but he still was able to keep consciousness.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.

Giving his sensei a tired glare, the boy responded, "Like shit, Kakashi-sensei. No lie. I've never felt this exhausted in my entire life. Though, I have to admit..."

"Admit what?" Kakashi asked, grinning at his blond pupil from behind his mask.

"I'm feeling pretty good, too."

\\\\\\\\\

He had been able to muster up enough strength to walk back to Konoha. Well, _almost._

Naruto collapsed three-fourths of the way back. Kakashi was happy to let one of his dog summons carry the boy for the remainder of the trip. The Jonin would have done it himself, but he was presently carrying a fully-bound Uchiha Sasuke. Having felt the sort of power the curse seal gave his student, Kakashi needed to handle it personally.

He was beginning to worry about Naruto as well. The boy had been unusually quiet during their trip. The only words he had spoken to his sensei had been a request for a break once he had collapsed. Every once and a while he'd look back at the blond, surprised to find the boy deep in thought. Naruto's face was completely serious, unlike anything he had seen from his student. For a second, Kakashi thought that Naruto looked like a ninja that had been active for many years; seeing things that no man should see, doing things no man should ever do.

Just what on earth did Naruto go through during the retrieval of his teammate?

Such thoughts would have to be discarded at the moment. The gates of Konoha were fast approaching, and he could clearly see a crowd of people waiting eagerly at them. He easily distinguished Haruno Sakura, the third and final member of Team 7. Her bubblegum-pink hair was owned by no others in Konoha.

They stopped running right in front of the girl, and she was in tears to see both Naruto and Sasuke back in one piece. Well, that was until she saw the tips of two kunai poking out of each of Sasuke's kneecaps. Kakashi never bothered to remove them. While he knew some basic medical jutsu, he had no idea how to patch up wounds like that.

Seeing the terrible wounds, Sakura turned her attention to Naruto. The slight rest he got from riding one of Kakashi's summons gave him just enough strength to stand up on his own again. He turned to look at her gaze, then visibly frowned.

Sakura was glaring at him.

Though he had expected this, it _definitely_ didn't sit well with him. Not one goddamn bit. He had just risked his life numerous times on this mission to satisfy the girl. Now she had the gall to be angry at him? Just for bringing her Sasuke back looking a bit worse for wear, she was pissed at him? Not today, sister.

"Don't give me that look. I'm in no mood for it, Sakura," Naruto spoke, his tone very serious.

"Look what you did to Sasuke! He looks terrible!" the girl yelled at him, not taking his advice at all.

This led to a scowl from Naruto. "And apparently I don't...okay, believe me Sakura, he dished out a lot more pain to me than I did to him. You're lucky I was able to get him back at all." That remark awakened phantom pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw that it originated from where a large hole in his jacket had been created by Sasuke's chidori. Man, did that thing hurt like a bitch...

"I don't see you walking around with kunai in your knee joints!" Sakura yelled. "I told you to bring him back, not cripple him for life!"

Naruto's eyes hardened considerably at her words. So, he responded, "I did my duty as a shinobi, Sakura. If I had been going by the book, I would have had to kill Sasuke for trying to defect to a known enemy of Konoha. Lucky for him, I was able to score with those kunai. If not, either me or him would have died, if not both of us."

"So! At least Sasuke would have been alive!" Sakura blurted, immediately regretting she had ever said such words. The look in Naruto's eyes held more sorrow than she thought was possible for a human to endure.

Then, he slapped her. He slapped her with deafening force, a blow that sent Sakura to her knees in shock.

"I thought we were friends, Sakura. I did all this for you. Thanks for showing me your thankfulness. Next time, you can risk your own life in a fight with Sasuke," Naruto spoke lightly. He then walked past her, where he was then looked at by a team of medical ninja. Sakura looked at his back, tears running down her face. She knew that she had gone too far with her anger. Actually looking at the boy, she could tell he was extremely tired and hurting. Whatever he had done to get Sasuke back, it had put him through hell and back.

The medical ninja, after giving the blond a once over, decided that he needed to spend some time in the hospital. So, they grabbed Naruto and began to help him towards their workplace. The entire time, Naruto never turned to look back at Sakura and Sasuke.

They were behind him now.

\\\\\\\\\

That night, Naruto found no sleep. He laid in bed all night with his eyes wide open, staring at the hospital room's ceiling. He mulled over so much that sleep was an impossibility.

He had discovered just how badly injured the rest of the retrieval mission's squad had gotten. If it wasn't for the Sand Siblings, three of his friends would be dead right now. He was definitely going to thank them for their assistance.

Besides that, Naruto kept remembering the events of his fight with Sasuke and his falling out with Sakura. It had hurt at first, but Naruto was good a numbing emotional pains. He'd done it his entire life, hiding the desperate loneliness behind a massive smile and an energetic demeanor.

It was easier to kill the pain now, though, because he wasn't really alone anymore. Sure, Sasuke and Sakura were likely out of the picture, but he had made so many other friends over the past months. All he had to do was think of the faces of Hinata, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba (and Akamaru), Iruka, Gaara, and even that old pervert Jiraiya. This group was what would keep him striving for his dream now more than ever.

However, eventually Naruto's mind traveled to darker places. Namely, the Kyuubi. Without that fox's help, Sasuke would have killed him with ease. That was something that Naruto didn't like one bit. He didn't want to have to be like Sasuke and rely on a secondary source of power to accomplish anything noteworthy. He wanted to be a skilled shinobi, not a skilled demon container.

He then began to realize that any of his key victories as of late, with the exception of Kiba, had required the use of the fox's chakra. Neji, Gaara, and Sasuke would have disposed of him in a moment's notice without that damn chakra.

He needed to become more skilled in other areas. If he had better ninjutsu and taijutsu, he would be able to beat anyone. Well, maybe not _anyone_, but a lot more people than he could right now. Perhaps these past couple of months were a wakeup call for him to start improving on the shinobi arts. He already showed that he could do it, because he had learned the Rasengan faster than anyone else.

Even it's creator, the Yondaime Hokage.

The Yondaime was his idol, because he was the perfect example of what Naruto should be as a ninja. The Yondaime was the Hokage because he had incredible ninjutsu and a formidable taijutsu to go along with it. The Yondaime had pretty much single handedly won the last Great Shinobi War by himself. Naruto always forgot the name of that awesome technique the Hokage had used, but the Yondaime had cleared whole fields of enemy ninja with it. Naruto would one day develop his own technique that would outdo that jutsu.

And he wouldn't need the Kyuubi in any way to perform it.

\\\\\\\\\

The next day was pretty nice. Shikamaru stopped by to check on him. The following conversations revealed that the lazy ninja had been very guilty that so many of his squad mates had been gravely injured under his leadership. Naruto understood where he was coming from, and reassured Shikamaru that it wasn't the Nara's fault. The mission was technically a success, and everyone who had been on that mission knew that they would be risking their lives. It seemed to calm Shikamaru down somewhat. Well, until Ino decided to barge in, looking for him apparently.

She had chewed Shikamaru out for not bothering to come see her after he got bat. apparently she had been worried sick for him and Choji. Naruto had smiled at the scene. Shikamaru's team really were a lot more close-knit than they let on. If only Team 7 had been anywhere as functional. He had cast that dark thought away pretty quickly.

Then Ino had taken notice of Naruto, and had proceeded to open her big mouth.

"Naruto! Oh thank you so much for bringing back my Sasuke-kun! I was pretty shocked to hear you actually beat him!"

Well, he had pretty much glared her right out of the room. He didn't want to hear one person mention Sasuke in a positive light at all. After seeing what that bastard really was, Naruto was not going to be putting in a good word for his former teammate any time soon. He only hoped that Tsunade would take control of that situation quickly, and put Sasuke away for a long time. The ninja side of the council would mostly agree with her due to knowing how grave of a crime treason was, but he had a feeling the civilians would be fighting tooth and nail to keep Sasuke out of harm's way.

A little while after Shikamaru departed, he got a visit from a blushing Hyuuga Hinata and her Jonin sensei Kurenai. The girl had come in red as a tomato and shaking like a tree. Still, she had brought him some Ichiraku's ramen, and after that (with the constant urging of Kurenai) a Get Well Card. He had accepted both heartily and then Naruto gave Hinata a quick hug. Well, quick in the sense that the moment he made contact with the Hyuuga heiress, she had collapsed thanks to one of her famous fainting spells. He had worried over her quite a bit, but Kurenai had reassured him extensively that Hinata was fine. When the girl came to, she had hurriedly left, causing Kurenai to chase after her following an apology to the blond.

Iruka was the last person to visit him before the hours to do so were over. He brought with him more ramen, and Naruto happily devoured his share. After that it was pretty awkward. Naruto suspected that his old Academy teacher had no idea what to say to him about the retrieval mission. So Naruto decided to promise Iruka that they'd have a proper conversation when he was out of the hospital. The scarred chunin left reluctantly, but not before giving Naruto a hug and telling him he was proud of his former student.

Coming from one of his most precious people, that meant a lot to Naruto.

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"I've come to talk to you about a very serious matter," Jiraiya spoke. He sat on window ledge of Naruto's hospital room. The blond ninja was presently lying in his bed, wrapped in bandages from the wounds he received. As soon as Jiraiya spoke, he had Naruto's undivided attention.

"Yes? What is it that you wanna talk about?" Naruto asked, a single eyebrow raised under the bandages on his face.

Still with his back to Naruto, Jiraiya responded, "From this day onward, you are my apprentice. I will train you one-on-one for the next three years. You see, as I was investigating Orochimaru's movements, I picked up on some information about Akatsuki. They won't be gunning for you for another three years, it seems. So, we need to leave Konoha for a while. In that time, I intend to make you formidable enough to deal with these bastards when the time comes."

Naruto was very quiet after that. Jiraiya took it as hesitance. That was no good. He needed to get that training trip going quickly. This boy needed to become very strong to fight the people that were after him now.

"You know," Naruto began, gaining Jiraiya's attention. "It's weird. If you would have brought this up and I would have failed this last mission, I probably would have turned it down. I would have worried about Sasuke and Sakura. I would have been a real brat about this. But now...it's as though I simply do not care. Not one bit. Sasuke, Sakura, they've shown that they are not my real teammates. It feels like they have betrayed me.

"However, I have other friends. Friends that Akatsuki will no doubt go after to get to me. I need to get stronger for my precious people, like I always have. So, Jiraiya, I'll take you up on this deal. Let's get the hell on the road. Uzumaki Naruto will defeat Akatsuki, no matter what."

Jiraiya didn't know how to react to his student's musings. He never expected Naruto to simply come along without protest. As Naruto said, Jiraiya expected him to go on about Sasuke or Sakura. Now it looked like the blond had removed himself from the two. However, he still wanted to get strong to protect those important to him. Just what sort of ninja would this boy be now?

Seeing the determination in Naruto's eyes, Jiraiya answered his own question.

"_Kid, you could very well become my favorite student..._" Jiraiya thought with a smile and a shake of his head.

"Alright! As soon as you're all healed up, we'll head on out! I promise you this: when I'm done with you, you'll be a master ninja!" Jiraiya proclaimed with a huge grin and a thumbs up.

Grinning a _real_ grin, Naruto said, "You better live up to your words. 'Cuz I'm going to make you have to keep up with me! I'll learn everything you got, old man!"

\\\\\\\\\

THREE YEARS LATER

The wind whipped a bit harder on this day. That was what Tsunade realized as she stood on the top of her tower, looking over Konoha. The wind was blowing her long, honey-blond hair into her face. It was annoying, really. However, she couldn't deny that the wind didn't feel good. After an entire week of paperwork in her dark office, fresh air felt fantastic on her aged skin.

There was a sort of patting sound behind her. Her curiosity piqued, Tsunade turned to discover a small yellow toad jumping over her way. She immediately recognized the amphibian as one of Jiraiya's messenger toads. Kneeling a bit, Tsunade held out her hand to let the toad jump into it. The small animal did so, giving her a grin.

"Hey Tsunade-chan! Looking as beautiful as ever, Lady Hokage," the little toad croaked following a bow, drawing a small smile from the woman.

"Always the charmer, eh Gamawasuke? While I appreciate the flattery, may you please give me Jiraiya's message? I'm eager to see what that pervert and his apprentice are up to these days." she spoke to the little yellow toad.

Nodding, Gamawasuke spoke, "Alright, it goes a little like this. 'Dear Tsunade. I'm very pleased to inform you that Naruto and myself will be coming back to Konoha today. Wait until you see this kid, Tsunade. You'll hardly recognize him! Oh well, I'll talk to you when we get back. Love, Jiraiya. P.S. You wanna go on a date when I get back?' That's about it, Tsunade-chan. If I have your approval, I'll head back to that old lecher."

Pinching her nose, Tsunade nodded. "That's fine, Gamawasuke. If you see that pervert, tell him I ain't dating him in a million years."

Grinning widely, the toad responded, "Sure thing, Lady Hokage. You're too good for that reprobate anyway. I hope to see you again soon, milady!" The toad then exploded into smoke, leaving Tsunade by herself. She had to admit, she was a bit excited to see how Naruto turned out after training with Jiraiya.

That pervert better hope that he didn't corrupt Naruto in these past three years.

\\\\\\\\\

"Awww! Not in a million years? How could you be so cruel, Tsunade-chan? You know I only have the best intentions when I ask you out! You're too much of a prude to do anything like _that_."

Scowling, Gamawasuke yelled, "Watch what you say about lady Hokage! She is simply too high-class to date a vagabond like you, Jiraiya! If only you could be as well-mannered as your student, you lech."

"_What_? What did you call your master?" the Toad Sannin roared as he began to chase his tiny summon.

Sighing, a person looked down on the old man. "So immature. At least I grew up, Jiraiya." The person was presently sitting on the side of Konoha's Hokage Monument. He sat cross legged on the nose of the Fifth Hokage's face, a calm look plastered on his own. He found himself looking down on the ninja village that had raised him, wondering what else had changed while he was gone.

"Jiraiya!" the person yelled lightly.

The old pervert stopped chasing Gamawasuke and looked up at the person. Grinning, Jiraiya called, "How's the sight up there, Naruto? I can't believe you're sitting on Tsunade's face! She'd be giving you a hell of a beating at that kind of disrespect." _Though I wouldn't mind if she'd sit on _my_ face..._

Uzumaki Naruto gave his sensei a brief glance before replying, "I've already sat on the four others. I wanted to see if this one would be any more comfortable."

"And?"

"Not too bad, Jiraiya. Not too bad."

**END OF LIVING 1**

From here on out there really won't be any gigantic time skips for a long, long time. The plot will follow the major events in Shippuden, but with twists at each event. Naruto will be considerably skilled thanks to Jiraiya, instead of what he was in the manga after the training trip. It always kinda steamed me that Jiraiya only taught him Oodama Rasengan and Kyuubi chakra manipulation. He had to have known the Kage Bunshin's secret, he's a Sannin for Christ's sake! He could have taught Naruto a buttload more in those three years. So now Naruto will actually be a formidable fighter.


	3. Living 2: Three Years

Disappear With the Wind

A Naruto/Bleach crossover fic by Kalashnikov2092

Living 2: Three Years

"**You kids shouldn't play so rough. Somebody's gonna start cryin'."**

Mr. Blonde,

_Resevoir Dogs_

/

Tsunade didn't really know what to say when Naruto and Jiraiya walked into her office. Jiraiya was jovial as always when he saw her, but Naruto was completely quiet, completely still.

He'd grown considerably since she last saw him. Back then, he had stood roughly five feet tall. Now he was nine inches taller, and easily stood taller than her. His baby fat was gone, leaving a very angled face. That signature blond hair was no longer a mess of spikes; instead, he had slicked it back tightly, leaving only two bangs to frame his face. The headband he had once proudly wore across his forehead was now wrapped around his neck almost like a turtleneck. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark green shinobi trousers. His ankles were taped in normal shinobi style, and a pair of black sandals adorned his feet. She took notice of the two orange bracelets on each wrist. Looked as though that boy couldn't give up that color entirely.

The most surprising thing Tsunade found herself noticing about her little brother was the sword at his hip. It was a scimitar, a nice looking one at that. When had Naruto gotten the time to learn the way of the sword? More importantly, who did he learn it from? She knew that Jiraiya had no sword training at all. Perhaps it was a friend of her teammate's?

"Ah! I see you're looking at my dashing apprentice! He's grown quite a bit, eh Tsunade? Soon he'll be beating away the ladies with a stick...or not!" Jiraiya spoke, the pride in his voice surprising his old teammate. She hadn't heard him talk about someone like that since Minato...

Getting back on track, Tsunade replied, "I must say Jiraiya, it's weird seeing him when he used to be such a shorty. Now I'm going to actually look up at him to scold him!"

A look of slight annoyance evolved on the boy's features. "Come on, I wasn't _that_ short, Tsunade," Naruto murmured. Tsunade was surprised that Naruto was actually referring to her by her actual name, instead of his usual barb at her age.

"Learned respect, also. Something in which he was severely lacking when you last saw him," Jiraiya said.

Scoffing, Naruto said, "Oh, I learned respect. Just only to those who deserve it, Ero-sennin." A comment that drew a bit of ire from the old sage.

Ending an argument before it began, Tsunade spoke, "Alright then, its good to know that you've gained some maturity, Naruto. Perhaps it'll make what I'm about to say easier for you to take."

Suddenly, all attention was on her. She became serious as well, knowing full well that the next few words she'd be speaking would be a sensitive subject for the blond.

"Uchiha Sasuke was able to defect to Sound."

Surprisingly, Naruto looked pretty calm. "Damn. What happened?"

"We're...not entirely sure," she admitted, embarassed. "We think it might have been an inside job. Regardless, that little bastard busted out of Interrogation a week after you left. A few shinobi were killed in the escape, and now Ibiki has a few new scars to add to his already impressive collection."

"I see...what do you want me to do about it?" Naruto asked in exasperation, to which Tsunade blinked.

"Well, I thought you just wanted to know. Sasuke was your former teammate, so I thought-"

Cutting her off, Naruto said, "I really don't care about him anymore. He showed me how much of a teammate he was on that mission. If you expect me to go after him, it will be because he's a threat to Konoha, not because I want to bring him back. I've got bigger priorities these days, namely the organization his brother works for."

Tsunade found herself looking into Naruto's eyes, then. She noticed that they were the same color as ever, that sapphire blue. However, it was like the light had dimmed a bit in them. She realized that Naruto no longer had the child-like innocence of his earlier years. Something must have happened while he was out training with Jiraiya. Something very terrible.

"I see...well if that does not bother you, then I guess you may leave. Jiraiya and I have _much_ to talk about," Tsunade chided, giving Jiraiya a quick glance. The man nodded slightly at the look. He had a good idea what she was insinuating.

Naruto stood there for a moment, eying his sensei and his Hokage. he knew something was up, but he also knew he wasn't going to be present to find out what. So he simply turned on his heel and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Tsunade looked at Jiraiya expectantly. He already had an idea what she wanted to talk about.

Sighing, Jiraiya began with: "You don't have to ask, I'll tell. To put it simply, that boy has changed. A lot."

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As soon as he left the Hokage Tower, Naruto took to the roofs. It felt so good to be _up. _Perhaps it was because of his affinity with wind that he loved being up so high. In the past three years, Naruto found that he was beginning to see what Shikamaru had been seeing for so long.

The blue sky, the white clouds, and everything else in that domain were _magnificent_.

When Naruto wasn't training, he took to sitting at the top of a tree or building and staring up at the clouds. The freedom that the sky seemed to have...it was truly mesmerizing. If only a human could live up in the sky like the birds, relinquishing all the troubles that seemed to plague the ground. Up in the sky, there was apparently peace.

He liked to entertain himself with thoughts of peace sometimes. He would wonder what the world would be like if there was actually peace. However, the truth always brought him out of his daydreams. Peace was quite the impossibility in the land he lived. As long as there were shinobi, there would be killing. As long as there was killing, there would be pain. If there is pain, then it will evolve into hatred.

And hatred caused wars.

Killing...oh yes, he had killed on a few occasions while running around the Elemental Countries with Jiraiya. Hell, he had tortured an enemy ninja or two. He pretty much had to. The trip had shown him just how ugly it was outside Konoha's walls. The preview he got from dealing with freaks like Orochimaru and Akatsuki was the only thing that kept him from feeling the shock any other would feel in his place. He had kept going forward despite the brutalities he saw and partook in, but it had sped up a change his fight with Sasuke had ultimately started.

He just couldn't help it. When he was forced to witness everything from torture, to murder, to _rape_, he was forced to mature emotionally and mentally. He attained the ninja's greatest tool (in his opinion) because of it. He could do what Haku had called "killing his heart" to commit atrocities. In the end he had neither liked it or hated it; simply a numb apathy once he was finished disposing of whatever foe that had decided to fight him.

Sometimes he would have the occasional nightmare, but it didn't effect him very much. He looked back on the instances of his kills, and found they were entirely necessary. It would have been him or them, and he was damn sure it wasn't going to be him. So, he stained his hands with blood.

Naruto recalled the first time he actually took a human life. An Iwa-nin had been none too happy to see Jiraiya. Naruto didn't know what went on in Iwagakure, but they obviously taught their shinobi to hate any powerful ninja from Konoha that had devastated their ranks in the previous wars. The guy had attacked Jiraiya and him out of blind hatred, and Naruto simply fought and killed the man. He did it almost subconsciously. He saw an opening and drove a kunai in the Iwa-nin's ear. The horror of his deed hit him days later, but he had remained strong and had overcome his first hardship of those three years.

He killed a total of seventeen ninja after that, and had tortured two other for information. Each time he did it, he did it quicker and much more efficiently. He'd become an able shinobi by doing so, something he knew was necessary to become Hokage.

There had been times in the trip where he wasn't so sure he actually_ wanted_ to be Hokage. He was completely willing to admit that. He just got to thinking about his dream, and found that there were some cons to being the leader of an entire shinobi village, especially one as prosperous as Konohagakure. He didn't know if he'd be a good politician in addition to and S-Class shinobi. Sure, he was good to talking with people, but not _high-class_ people. They saw his way of speaking to be that of a vagrant or a ruffian. Sure, he could just be a leader that solved all his problems with power like so many other Kages in the history books, but it didn't feel right to him. While his personality had changed drastically, the vast majority of his morals had not.

A low rumble in his stomach broke him from his musings. He couldn't help but chuckle. He had eaten right before he arrived back, but his stomach had a mind of its own. That was something that had never changed in his trek.

His stomach's mind had been focusing on Ichiraku ramen the minute it came through the gates, and now he was gonna go get some.

Some of the scenery had changed in Konoha, but he knew exactly where his favorite ramen stand was. He'd eaten many bowls of those noodles the past three years, but none could ever hope to match the orgasmic flavors that Ichiraku Teuchi was able to get out his ramen.

Not wasting a minute, Naruto spun in mid-leap to change his traveling direction. He bounded from one roof after another, his stomach guiding him instead of his eyes. He could practically smell the legendary noodles of his orange-wearing youth.

He arrived at Ichiraku's in no time, but when he arrived, his hunger suddenly disappeared.

It was Sakura.

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At first, Naruto didn't know what to do. He had landed in front of the ramen stand without thinking, and now he was stuck in a very awkward situation. As soon as the clack of his sandals could be heard, the pinkette had turned in her seat to meet him with wide eyes.

She never grew her hair back out, he observed. She had decided to keep it down to her chin like when she had cut it in the chunin exams. Her clothes were similar as well, with a few slight changes. She had grown into a teenager, that was for sure. She had gained some of the curves that a girl of her age was expected to have. She was still lacking in one key feature of a woman, but she still had plenty of time to grow those particular _assets_ out.

She stared at him with those wide emerald eyes, not saying a damn thing. That was fine with him, he was in no mood to talk with her. He'd just put on his cool and eat his ramen. She may have ruined a lot of things for him in the past, but she would _not_ ruin ramen. He would have his bowl (or six), and then see if he could try and talk to her.

Walking right past her, Naruto spoke to Teuchi, "Hey old man! Got any warm ramen for your number one fan?"

The elderly ramen chef, who had been cleaning some dishes, turned around immediately at the sound of his voice. A large grin exploded from the chef as he caught sight of his best customer.

"Naruto!" the old man bellowed. "By god my boy, it's been how many years since you've been gone? Whatever, who cares! Sit, eat! Ha ha, it's been too quiet with you gone, my boy!" As he spoke, his hands clapped the blond youth on his shoulder over and over in happiness. However, after his first shout of the blond's name, there had been a sort of crashing in the back. After Ichiraku had been done speaking, his daughter Ayame emerged from the back with a look of something akin to excitement on her face.

Upon seeing Naruto, that look almost doubled. She practically jumped over the counter to give the blond a hug. He received the embrace with a hearty laugh. He almost knew exactly what would happen after. He was not very vain, but he knew the effect of his looks on the ladies.

Right on cue, Ayame almost jumped back away from the blond, a slight redness tinging her cheeks. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and he could have sworn that her blush got a bit redder.

"Hi Ayame. Glad to see you missed me," Naruto said jovially. There was a bark of laughter from Teuchi as he wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"Of course, Naruto!" the ramen chef spouted. "You're like a little brother to Ayame. Of course she'd be glad to see you had come back unharmed. And looking better than ever, in my opinion. You've grown so tall!"

Naruto chuckled, saying, "Well, I began to eat my veggies in addition to ramen. I'm a much more well-rounded eater now." That got a laugh out of the old man, and Ayame looked a lot less red. She gave the blond a kind smile, which he returned with a wink, which brought back the blush.

"Hey, aren't you gonna say hello to your friend?" Teuchi asked when he remembered that Sakura had been eating there too.

He almost cursed. Right now he had no idea how he should talk to his old teammate. So he took a page out of his old self's idiot book and gave her a sheepish wave. When she looked away, he frowned.

Teuchi mirrored Naruto's small frown at seeing the interaction between the two young ninja, but didn't comment. He'd heard rumors of what occurred between the two after Naruto brought that Uchiha brat back. It just surprised him to see their favorite blond ball of energy holding a grudge. He looked at the pink-haired girl and saw the hidden sadness in her green eyes. That, and a little bit of guilt.

Still, he kept to himself. Teuchi simply turned and finished preparing Naruto's bowl of ramen. He did it in total silence, something rare from the blond. Back then, he had always been one for the conversation while Teuchi was preparing Naruto's favorite dish. Maybe Naruto didn't feel like talking because his teammate was there. Either that, or perhaps the boy had calmed down a bit in the past couple of years.

Naruto, meanwhile, was noticing the silence as well. He guessed that Teuchi and Ayame could see how awkward things were between him and Sakura. It wasn't his fault. He tried to acknowledge her, but she had seemed to ignore him. He had been angry at first after he remembered the way Sakura had yelled at him after he brought her precious Sasuke back. He'd done what he had to do, and all he got was a load of crap from the person he had done it for. He wasn't okay with that. Not now, not ever.

However, he had thought back on it a lot the past three years. He had made up his mind that he was not going to be bitter when he came back. Being bitter was like being weak to Naruto. No way was he going to let that incident rule him. He'd be strong and try to patch things up the best he could. He wouldn't do it the stupid way either, by just acting like nothing ever happened. He could never forget what she did. Naruto planned to confront not just Sakura, but a lot of people about their past sins towards him. However he intended to try and make new bonds with these people.

Because that's what a Hokage would do.

There was a ruckus somewhere down the street, but Naruto paid no mind. He had come for ramen, and by god was he going to have it. However, when that ruckus quickly approached Ichiraku's, Naruto finally took the time to peek out and see what the hell was happening. As soon as he did, a figure with a long orange scarf attempted to tackle him.

Key word: attempted.

He simply ducked under the flying person, smiling in a bit of satisfaction as he heard a young voice cry out in surprise when he completely missed his intended target. The voice was different from the last time he heard it, but it still had enough of a resemblance for Naruto to guess its owner.

"Oh hey Konohamaru. Were you trying to tackle me or something? I never noticed," Naruto teased his "rival." A young boy of twelve sat up and gave Naruto a death glare.

"You got lucky, Boss! I would have had you for sure if my scarf hadn't got in my way!" Sarutobi Konohamaru cried in aggravation. Naruto scoffed and flicked the younger boy in the forehead.

"Then don't wear it, stupid. Wearing a scarf that makes you trip is a liability, especially for a ninja," he told the Sandaime's grandson. Then he broke out into a smile and ruffled the boy's hair. "How's it been, Konohamaru?"

Smiling cheekily at his blond rival, Konohamaru replied, "Pretty good Boss. I even have a surprise for you! Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique)!"

There was a puff of almost unnatural smoke, then Konohamaru's new form was unveiled. No longer was there a child; no, in fact there was a very sexy and **very** naked woman in his place. She blew Naruto a kiss, then the smoke shrouded the spot again. This time when the smoke cleared, Konohamaru stood in the same spot again, this time having a wide grin plastered to his face.

"So what do you think? A real zinger of a jutsu, eh?" the boy asked excitedly, before a girl of similar age came out of nowhere and cracked the boy in the back of his head with her fist. It was Moegi, one of Konohamaru's friends.

"What are doing? Are you _trying_ to get yourself in trouble?" Moegi asked sharply as her friend rubbed the area he had been bopped. Naruto chuckled at their antics, seeing almost a mirror image of some of the situations himself and Sakura had gone through.

"Jeez Konohamaru, you still use that technique. Sorry to tell you this, but that jutsu is just child's play. Have you taken the time to learn any _real_ jutsu?" At that, Konohamaru looked down in embarrassment. Naruto knew by the boy's guilty look that the answer was obvious. Sighing, Naruto continued, "It doesn't take an idiot to know that Oiroke no Jutsu only works on a select few people. You need to be more versatile if you want to be a ninja. So, I have a present for you."

Before Konohamaru could even look up, something collided painfully with the top of his skull. He yelped and immediately caught the object. His eyes widened when he found a scroll in his hands.

Looking down at his junior, Naruto said, "I have a few low-class jutsu you and your friends can learn. Like I said, it's nothing major. It's just a push in the right direction. When you learn everything on that scroll, I'll give you another with some more difficult techniques."

The thankfulness in Konohamaru's eyes almost got a grin out of Naruto. However, the blond practiced great control and kept his features neutral. Konohamaru could see that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his "rival," so he turned foot and took off towards the training grounds. Moegi gave Naruto an appreciative nod before following her teammate.

When the two were out of sight Naruto retreated back into the ramen stand. His meeting with Konohamaru had been brief, but he was glad it occurred sooner than later. If that kid was still going around using Oiroke no Jutsu as his signature move, then he needed to learn some true ninja attacks. It kind of disgusted him that he had actually made that technique. Had he really been that immature three years ago?

He supposed that he was. He had been dumb enough to fight monsters like Orochimaru and Momochi Zabuza by himself. It was sheer dumb luck that he still was walking the earth today. Looking back at his early shinobi career, he saw just how useless he had been for the longest time. Thank god he was able to get apprenticed by a genius like Jiraiya. Sure, the man was an unequaled pervert, but he was still a Sannin. He would have never guessed in a million years that Jiraiya was so powerful.

Naruto took a seat back on his stool, happy to find a steaming bowl of ramen sitting in front of him. He grinned a bit and took hold of his chopsticks. He dug into the salty noodles like an animal, devouring the dish in the blink of an eye.

Teuchi gave a boisterous laugh at seeing Naruto go to work on his second bowl. That kid may have matured a good deal when he was gone, but he still loved his ramen. Which was perfectly fine for the old ramen chef.

"Well now. When I heard you were back in town, I knew there was only one place you could be. Looks like I was right."

Naruto stopped in mid-slurp, knowing that voice as soon as it spoke its first sentence. He finished his slurp, making sure he didn't have food in his mouth when he talked.

Not bothering to look behind him, Naruto said, "Kakashi."

"Hey Naruto," the silver-haired Jonin stated with a wave as he took a seat next to his blond pupil.

Frowning, Naruto asked, "What do you want Kakashi? I'm trying to enjoy my first meal at Ichiraku's in _three years_. You of all people should know how much this means to me" Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow at the boy's tone. Did he hear a touch of contempt in the boy's voice at first?

"Come on now. Is that any way to greet your sensei?" Kakashi asked with a frown hidden by his mask.

"I'm sorry. The only man who I can call sensei is Jiraiya," Naruto said. Then he guided another bunch of noodles to his mouth with his chopsticks. Kakashi frowned even deeper. So the boy was upset with him for something. Better to get this out of the way now...

Turning towards Naruto, Kakashi said, "I taught you as well Naruto. Don't forget that. I know that Jiraiya has taught you these past couple of years, but I'm still your sensei."

Surprisingly, Naruto expelled a sigh. "Listen Kakashi, I can see what you're trying to do, and I don't really feel like that's what I need right now. Don't come in here and try to get into an argument with me about this. It's just going to end badly for you. So please, get lost and let me enjoy my first meal at Ichiraku's in three years."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Naruto. As your sensei, I need to resolve any problems between us before we work as a team," the man responded.

This time Naruto did turn to look at Kakashi. He wore an expression of annoyance and exasperation at the man's prodding. His blue eyes looked squarely into Kakashi's lone black one, and the Jonin could see that the boy didn't hold him in high regards at the moment.

"Alright Kakashi," Naruto began. "You want it, you got it, so I apologize beforehand. It's plain and simple: you're not my sensei. Why? You never truly taught me."

Kakashi blinked at that. He raised his hand, saying, "I taught you plenty. Remember the mission in Wave? I taught you all."

"No," Naruto stated simply, pointing his chopsticks at Kakashi for emphasis. "You didn't teach me much at all. Sure, there was the tree-walking, but what about after that? What did I learn from Sharingan Kakashi, master of a thousand techniques? The answer is so easy its baffling: absolutely nothing."

"Come on now Naruto, you're being unfair. I taught you all about teamwork. I-"

But the blond cut him off with a scoff. "Yeah, we _really_ learned about teamwork," Naruto stated sarcastically. "One teammate nearly killed me in a psychotic quest for power to murder his older brother, and then the other got pissed at me when I defended myself. I must say Kakashi, you got team of the fuckin' year." Naruto got a bit of satisfaction when he saw Sakura flinch out of the corner of his eye. He didn't feel guilty, though. This was the perfect time to bring everything to light.

His face much more serious now, Kakashi said, "Now that's even more unfair Naruto. That happened a very long time ago. I thought you knew about forgiveness."

Sighing again, Naruto said, "Oh just shut up Kakashi. You don't know me very well at all. Just because you saw me every day doesn't mean you took the time to talk to me and understand me. We all know there was only one person you gave two shits about on that team. Because of that, you basically were the one who destroyed out team."

"_What_?" Kakashi asked in shock. "_I'm_ the one who broke up our team? No, I'm afraid that was Orochimaru, Naruto."

"Of course it was. Blame the obvious evil, right Kakashi?" the blond youth asked as he closed his eyes and leaned against the bar. "No, I'm afraid that Orochimaru simply capitalized on your shitty teaching. You did nothing to quell Sasuke's arrogance, even though a shinobi of your experience should know what arrogance can do to a ninja. Not only did you let his arrogance go, but you also fueled it with your favoritism. You gave him all these skills like the chidori, and then he became even more arrogant. Especially because you're only teaching these things to _him_. 'The dobe and the fangirl aren't worth his time,' he must have thought. Then, when he first loses in the Forest of Death to Orochimaru, it sets in motion a chain of events that lead to the end of the Uchiha Clan in Konoha.

"He was perhaps humbled by the defeat, though I really couldn't tell. Someone kept me out of the loop about what went on after I was knocked out. But then you took him under your wing to train him for the finals. He got the chidori, and he thought he was tough shit again. Only he found that it wasn't true when Gaara nearly killed him. Then, to make things worse, I defeat Gaara right before his eyes, using techniques that surpassed his own. Me, the fucking _dead last of the academy_! It must have messed him up right good. So he grew jealous of me. He began to despise me for even having the gall to be stronger than him. He needed to get stronger than me if he ever wanted to avenge his clan. So here comes Orochimaru with whisperings of power and vengeance. And Uchiha Sasuke accepts. The rest is history."

The silence in the ramen stand was the only answer Naruto desired. He took hold of the last of the noodles in his bowl with his chopsticks. Then he carried them to his mouth and gobbled them up.

He gulped down the remaining broth and turned to Kakashi. "So there you have it folks. That's the whole song and dance. You fucked up, Kakashi. Plain. And. Simple. Understand?" He punctuated each of his last three words with a flourish of his chopsticks.

Then a slap rocketed across the left side of his face, nearly knocking him out of his chair. Luckily, he caught himself before the chair could fully tip over. That slap had been _strong_.

He turned to the perpetrator with a stony face, the obvious displeasure of being slapped showing on his features. He found Sakura sitting there, water welling in the corner of her eyes. She held the hand that had slapped him, almost trying to take it back.

His hand came up, slowly, grasping her chin. "Now was that necessary?" Naruto asked while his other hand rubbed his sore cheek..

Sakura's watery eyes slanted into a glare, and she responded, "Yes Naruto, it was. You have no right to talk to Kakashi-sensei like that. He came here to get caught up with you, not have you throw what happened to us in his face!"

"Fair enough," Naruto said evenly, his face now completely apathetic. "Though I really don't care what he came here for. I'm done with this team, and I wanted him to know that. The short time we were Team 7 showed that it simply doesn't work. Why should I bother being on a broken team?"

"Because broken things can be fixed," Kakashi stated as he pulled Naruto's hand from Sakura's face. Naruto leveled his gaze with his sensei's, finding that the man's eye held more than enough coldness to match his own.

Tilting his head a bit, Naruto said, "Not all, Kakashi. There are some things that cannot be fixed after they've been shattered. This team might be one of them."

"How can we prove that it can be fixed, then?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment. Then: "This may sound a bit crazy, but I guess we have to fight. You and Sakura against me."

Kakashi's gaze softened at boy's proposition. "Do we really have to do that? Is violence the only way to solve this?"

"Yes Kakashi," Naruto answered without hesitation, though he held a very soft frown. "For shinobi, violence is the only answer."

\\\\\\\\\

Tsunade gave Jiraiya a very annoyed look.

"I can see that he changed, Jiraiya. Just elaborate for me before I crush your head like a grape," the Hokage ordered.

Sighing, Jiraiya responded, "Okay, okay. Well for one, he's taken a human life. More than once."

Her eyes broke contact with his, understanding fully what that meant. Naruto had finally taken another human being's life, usually an act that changes a shinobi. It always seems so trivial until the first time you see the life leave a person's eyes due to your actions. It is a very heavy situation to endure; so heavy, in fact, that it makes a good number of genin quit once they have actually done it.

"I see," Tsunade said. "Anything else?"

Frowning now, Jiraiya answered with, "Yes. Um, how do I say this...he's tortured enemy ninja as well."

"_What?_"

"He did it when I was not there, on both occasions," Jiraiya admitted with guilt. "There have been times that I've had to leave him on his own when I go to meet a contact. The first one he tortured was an Oto-nin. Found him snooping around the hotel we were staying at, so he tied him down after defeating him. Broke all of his fingers, _after _putting the bamboo spikes under his nails. I walked in on the scene to find Naruto beginning to cut his toes. I put a stop to it of course, and finished the interrogation myself. It didn't take much to get info out of him; Naruto did plenty enough already."

Tsunade's face was pale at the information she received. To think that the Naruto she had known had actually tortured somebody.

"What about the other?" Tsunade asked.

Scratching his head, Jiraiya said, "Well that one was actually good. We got some important information from that one. Naruto had a close call one day, almost running into two members of Akatsuki. He avoided detection and followed them. Apparently they turned in a bounty to a collector in Kumo. Once they left Naruto captured the collector and tortured him for some intel on Akatsuki. He didn't go as far as the last time; he just electrocuted the guy until he coughed up what Naruto wanted to know."

Tsunade sat up a bit at that. "Electrocuted?" she asked. "He knows Raiton jutsu?"

Smirking, Jiraiya nodded and said, "Yep, he has two elemental affinities: a strong wind affinity and a close second in lightning. He's damn good at manipulation for both, though his wind is still superior. He just sent lightning chakra into the collector's, uh..._downstairs_, if you catch my drift. Found out that the two Akatsuki members that were collecting the bounty were known as Hidan and Kakuzu. Other than that, he got nothing useful about them. Naruto let the guy go after he got me to wipe the guy's mind."

"Jiraiya...just how strong is Naruto now?" Tsunade asked. She was very intrigued. Nature manipulation at his age was almost unheard of. If what Jiraiya was saying was true, then Naruto could be a prodigy in the making.

Cupping his chin in thought, Jiraiya answered, "Well, if I had to rank him, I'd have to say around Kakashi's level. He has great strength and manipulation, but he didn't take the time to learn many jutsu. He could easily learn any fuuton jutsu he wanted, but he just stuck to using manipulation. I think it's because he's trying to combine his Rasengan with wind chakra, something that not even Minato could do. If he pulls it off, then he'll probably start learning actual jutsu. Once he does that, the the sky's the limit for what he'll be able to do. Hell, I might even take him to the toads to teach him sage chakra. Seriously, I haven't seen this much promise in a ninja since his father. And we _all_ know how Minato turned out."

\\\\\\\\\

They stood there, a team divided.

Naruto looked at the two of them as he sat on the middle log in a cluster of three. It was the location of the bell test, their first interaction as a team. Now they were there for what could be their last moment as a team.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kakashi asked. "I plan to take this fight seriously. It could end badly for you."

Naruto nodded despite Kakashi's comment. He knew just how formidable his skills were. Kakashi didn't. He planned on giving both the Jonin and Sakura a surprise in this fight.

Sighing, Kakashi said, "Alright then. Should we begin?"

Surprisingly, it was Sakura who moved first. She leaped forward, going for a punch to Naruto's midsection. He easily leaped away long before the girl ever reached him. He watched from mid-air as Sakura's fist obliterated the log. So Tsunade had taught her. A surprise for him, it seemed.

He landed and immediately jumped again as Kakashi flanked him and attempted a kick. Naruto clasped his hand in a familiar seal, three Kage Bunshin materializing next to him in the air. Two of them began to help him morph a Rasengan in each hand. The third spun behind him and placed its feet on his back. As the two channeling the Rasengans disappeared, the third pushed with its legs.

The act shot Naruto down at Kakashi, both Rasengans aimed to shred the man to pieces. Kakashi leaped away with ease, years of being a Jonin making the act almost second nature. He watched as Naruto's attack collided with the ground where he had once stood and then exploded. A massive cloud of dust hid Naruto from Kakashi's view.

Then the blond was shooting out of the smoke, fist aimed to take Kakashi's head off. The man caught the fist with ease.

Then another Naruto was right next to him.

A vicious kick cracked into his ribs and sent the man flying. The Jonin couldn't believe the amount of force behind the kick; it was almost as painful as a kick from Gai!

Naruto planned on continuing his offensive, but a gloved fist whizzed past his face. He leaned away from the punch and then bent backwards to dodge a kick from Sakura. The girl tried desperately to land a hit on the blond, only to find that the boy was too quick.

He finally ended her attacks when he latched onto her wrist and pulled her past him. As she stumbled past him, he landed an open palm strike that sent the girl into the dirt. The next moment, he blocked a hard kick from his former sensei. The strike threw him off balance, so he was forced to go on the defensive as Kakashi began to send expert taijutsu strikes at him.

One punch smashed into Naruto's chin, promptly making Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi's eye widened at the revelation. His highly trained senses screaming at him, the Jonin whipped around to barely block a flying kick. The impact from the kick rang through his whole body.

Cursing silently, Kakashi quickly put distance between him and the ever-surprising blond. He had expected Naruto to grow in the past three years, but nowhere near this level. So far he was keeping up with the Jonin, a feat in itself. Then he was landing hits with _Kage Bunshin_ of all things!

Switching it up a bit, Kakashi removed a kunai from his pouch and got into a defensive stance. Seeing this, Naruto tore his scimitar from its sheath. The silver blade seemed to shimmer for a second, but Kakashi didn't have time to notice as Naruto was coming at him.

The silver-haired cyclops ducked under a horizontal slash and tried to drive his fist into Naruto's gut. The blond didn't let him, spinning on his heels to avoid the punch. Naruto left his feet, supporting himself with one hand. He went for an upwards slash while upside-down. Kakashi placed his kunai between himself and the slash.

The kunai was promptly cut in half.

Kakashi leaned back in alarm, saving himself from receiving a face-full of steel. Instead, the tip of the scimitar cut him shallowly on his right cheek. The man jumped way back now, sensing the danger that Naruto presented up close. He looked at his kunai, finding the knife's cut completely smooth. It was nature manipulation alright, but not lightning. A cut infused with lightning chakra would have melted the kunai very slightly, not cut it so finely. So it was wind chakra.

"So you see it now," Naruto spoke as he noticed the look of realization on Kakashi's face.

Frowning, Kakashi said, "He taught you how to use wind natured chakra? You're not even sixteen!"

Barking out laughter, Naruto returned with, "As I heard, you created the chidori when you were my age. So don't go around thinking that a kid can't be trusted with powerful jutsu. Unless you're Uchiha Sasuke."

That barb made Kakashi frown even deeper. "Sasuke was different. He was going to fight Gaara. You know full well how dangerous that boy was."

"Oh, I know alright. I beat him _without_ the chidori. Still, there's no difference between me and Sasuke. You forget, I've got _S-Class criminals_ after my ass. Last time I checked, that presents more alarm than a genin, even if he is a jinchuuriki," Naruto answered. "Just because it was Sasuke you taught that jutsu to, it doesn't mean that he's the only one allowed to learn dangerous things. Jiraiya took me as his student, and I expected to learn something useful from him. Not just basic chakra control."

"Enough talk!" a familiar pink-haired kunoichi roared as she sped towards her blond teammate. Naruto saw the attack coming a mile away, so dealing with her was an ease. As she went for another Tsunade punch, Naruto slipped right in her guard and knocked away her swinging arm with an elbow into the inside of her forearm.

He then grasped a firm hold of the front of her shirt with both of his hands. He pulled her towards him, ramming his forehead right into hers.

It was easy. Her forehead was a very large target.

The force behind the headbutt was massive, but she was a tough little dame; she held onto consciousness and was lucky enough to grab a hold of Naruto's shoulders.

For the first time in the fight, Naruto actually had a look of surprise as he found that he could not get out of her grip. Then he mentally kicked himself for forgetting that Tsunade had apparently taught her. Which meant the next few moments were gonna _hurt_.

"Cha! Take this!" Sakura yelled in triumph. She easily hefted the blond over her head before slamming him full-force into the ground. The earth beneath the blond cracked and fragmented under the tremendous force.

Naruto let out a cry as pain exploded through his back. He mentally cursed himself at his stupid mistake. He should have thought ahead before allowing a girl with such a fierce physical strength as Sakura come within grabbing distance of him. Now he had paid the price: a few broken bones in his shoulders and a strained back.

Sakura and Kakashi now stood over him with looks of amusement. He had been surprising at first, but it was still that bit of idiot in him that had allowed Sakura to land that decisive blow.

"So Naruto, will we be a team again?" Kakashi asked as he offered a hand to his student.

"Kakashi, do you want to know another thing that Jiraiya taught me?"

A sort of red smoke began to appear from under the blond.

"Apparently, I can channel my special chakra into any injured part, speeding up its recovery."

Suddenly, there was foot in both Kakashi and Sakura's stomachs. The force behind the kicks sent the two skidding backwards, holding their abdomens in pain.

"You see, originally I never wanted to use my special chakra again after I used it against Sasuke," Naruto spoke as he sat up and rolled his shoulders. "However, the past couple of years taught me that a shinobi needs to use all the resources he can get. So, I'm not as stingy with my special chakra. I use it to do some speedy healing in battle time to time, but I hardly rely on it as much as I did when I was younger."

Naruto leaped to his feet and rolled his shoulders a bit more. He gave the two a disappointed look as he said, "Do you really think that I'd want to be on a team that underestimates me that much? You land one good attack on me and then I'm suddenly down for the count? That's just stupid. Maybe I just have to beat it into the both of you that I'm strong."

His hands raised up a bit, and then began to come to together in a burst of seals. Seals that Kakashi was all too familiar with. The silver-haired man watched with wide eyes as Naruto raised his right hand, where it began glow with a sort of yellow light. The sound of birds chirping flooded the training ground.

Kakashi wanted to speak the name of the technique, but Naruto beat him to it.

"Chidori."

The blond's two teammates looked at the crackling electricity in Naruto's right hand in shock.

"Who taught you?" Kakashi asked with a wide eye.

Naruto simply gave him an even gaze. "Nobody. I taught it to myself."

\\\\\\\\\

"How in God's name did that boy get to a Jonin level in only three years!" Tsunade asked her fellow Sannin in a mix of shock and amazement.

Smirking, Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders before he said, "I can't explain it. The kid's like a sponge. He soaked up all the shinobi knowledge he could. I had originally wanted to teach him how to use the Kyuubi's chakra, but he would have none of it. I've recently got him to practice it extensively, but still. He wanted to be strong on his own; not with the help of a demon. So I just worked him into the ground. Not once did he complain. Hell, he thanked me! Even when he was lying there in a pool of his own sweat, he was thanking me! I'm telling you Tsunade, I'd pick him as your successor in a few years. Lord know he has the potential to fill that spot sooner."

\\\\\\\\\

"But _how_? The level of control it requires to use that jutsu is enormous. I'm sorry to say this, but you were never very good at control," Kakashi said, his eyes never leaving the yellow chidori in Naruto's hand.

Sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation, Naruto said, "People can get better, Kakashi. Remember? I'm one of them. Granted, it took me a good bit of the trip to get to that level of control, but I got there. As for learning the actual jutsu, it was simple. The manipulation is like a simpler version of Rasengan. All I had to do was remember the hand seals, and believe me, I saw them enough times thanks to Sasuke. After that it was a breeze to learn."

The blond suddenly busted into a full speed sprint at his sensei. The Sharingan wielding shinobi cursed and narrowly dodged his own technique. He then watched in amazement as Naruto seemed to close his fist around his chidori. Little arks of electricity jumped up his right arm, across his shoulders, and then down his left arm. From Naruto's open palm a small bolt of lightning shot forward and scored a hit on Kakashi's right shoulder.

So Naruto knew lightning manipulation too.

Fuck. This was gonna be very unpleasant...

His muscles clenched as a moderate voltage surged through them. He couldn't move for only a second, but Naruto only needed that much. He whipped around on the heel of his left foot, delivering a downright brutal spinning heel kick to Kakashi's face. The blow sent the Jonin flying away, his nose bloodied if not broken.

Sakura reacted immediately as soon as she realized that Naruto was right next to her. Her hands glowed with a glowing green aura as charkra scalpels surrounded them. Naruto came at her a moment later, fists moving expertly to dodge and block any strikes that would sever muscle. The girl's strength may have been monstrous, but if she didn't have the speed to keep up with him, all that strength was nothing to him.

Then, without warning, a fist snapped his head to the side.

Naruto quickly dodged the next one, watching it whiz by his head. Its owner was Hatake Kakashi. However, it wasn't the same Kakashi as before. The headband that usually covered his left eye was pulled up, revealing a three tomoe Sharingan for his left eye. It spun lazily, analyzing his every move with ease.

Cursing his sudden bad luck, Naruto quickly spun away from his legendary sensei. He knew that he wouldn't be landing anymore easy blows from now on. He was fighting Sharingan Kakashi, an S-Class shinobi in the bingo book. This would be the first time he fought one at his present skill. Not even Akatsuki had fought him yet. Not only that, but the man was both a little bit faster than him and had that damn Sharingan.

Still, Naruto was quite happy that there was no more holding back. He nodded towards the man, a sign of respect at the fact that he was taking the blond seriously now. The man smiled slightly and mirrored the nod. So there was a sliver of hope for his team after all.

The two met the very next second, dodging each other's punches. Naruto was the first to follow up, attempting an elbow to the Jonin's chest. However, Kakashi's Sharingan read his taijutsu like a book. He leaped up, landing on Naruto's elbow in a crouch. The blond never even got to smirk at the coolness of the act, for a full-on left hook popped him right in the mouth.

The blond growled as he went stumbling slightly. He caught himself right away, twisting away from a kunai thrust that would have stuck him like a pig. His fingers brushed against the knife as he passed by it, sending a jolt of lightning chakra through the weapon.

Kakashi grimaced as the shock jolted the muscles in his hand. He dropped the kunai, and Naruto snatched it out of the air. He spun, throwing the knife with perfect aim. If Kakashi wouldn't have moved, the sharp tip of the kunai would have buried itself deep in his left thigh.

The dodge forced him right where Naruto had wanted him: right into the path of his kick. The attack made contact with his back, but Kakashi seemed to lean backwards and let himself roll over Naruto's leg. The blond jinchuuriki cursed and pointed his left hand at the Jonin. A moment later, something hit Kakashi in the chest and sent him skidding backwards. The force behind the invisible blow didn't cause him any real harm; it had only been used to give Naruto a chance to put distance between himself and his old sensei.

Kakashi could tell that what had hit him in the chest was a compressed ball of wind, a creation of Naruto's wind manipulation. The boy had sent it at a moment's notice, so it had nowhere as much power as it would if he had gathered enough chakra. Still, for a wind bullet to have that much force behind it with such little chakra spoke volumes about Naruto's level of skill.

Naruto once again removed his scimitar from its scabbard, knowing full well that he wouldn't get very far using taijutsu alone.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as his Sharingan picked up a blue shimmer around Naruto's blade. It was most likely wind chakra, just like before.

The blond exploded into motion, slashing his sword in front of him. Kakashi found himself dodging more balls of compressed wind. Only these ones were much more powerful, smashing the bark off of the trees behind him. One hit from one of those babies and he's be sporting some broken ribs, if not a collapsed lung.

Kakashi's hands found themselves forced into action, blurring through a familiar set of seals. He needed to go on the offensive if he wanted to stay in control in this fight. Naruto had always been one to exploit weaknesses when he got control of a battle.

"Katon: Housenka (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower)," Kakashi shouted. Then he exhaled his breath, and a flurry of fireballs went flying at Naruto. The blond jinchuuriki cursed at the man's choice of jutsu. Fire jutsu only fed on wind jutsu, so his wind manipulation wouldn't help right now. So, Naruto quickly evaded the fireballs, moving right to where Kakashi wanted him to go.

As he ducked under the last fireball, Naruto found himself face-to-face with a gigantic dog leaping out of the ground. Naruto cursed and snapped his free hand out. The next moment a wall of wind pushed the giant dog backwards into the dirt. It whined for a moment, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The chirping of birds accompanied the popping sound of the disappearing dog, and Naruto ran through his own set of seals. The chirping intensified as Naruto held a yellow chidori once again. The blond spun around, jamming his chidori into Kakashi's, yellow meeting blue. There was a zapping noise, and the two techniques discharged, forcing their hands back.

Having dropped his scimitar so he could do hand seals, Naruto quickly picked his weapon up and attempted and upwards slash. Kakashi spun away from the slash, going through hand seals the entire time. As he stopped right next to Naruto, he finished the last seal.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!"

Once again, Kakashi exhaled. Only this time, it wasn't a flurry of small fireballs that emerged from his mouth; it was a single colossal one. Naruto's eyes widened at finding the technique so close to him. He cursed loudly and created a shield Kage Bunshin. There was a series of popping noises as the clones were destroyed, but Naruto was out of the way by then. The clones had absorbed enough of the fireball for him to get out of there and avoid any damage completely.

As he was stepping backwards though, two hands exploded from the ground and grabbed Naruto's ankles in a vice grip. Alarmed, Naruto could do nothing as he pulled into the ground. All that stood above ground was his head, wearing a very frustrated look.

Kakashi, now standing next to Naruto's head, said with an eye smile, "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique)."

Then, much to Kakashi's surprise, Naruto frown exploded into a huge grin. "Oh yeah? Well eat this: Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)!"

Then Naruto promptly exploded magnificently.

Luckily, Kakashi was quick enough to leap away from the exploding clone. He landed and then looked back where he had used Goukakyuu; Naruto emerged from the gound, having dug under the fireball. He had created an exploding clone as a replacement of the real him, hoping to get Kakashi with it.

The sour look on his face showed how he was reacting to its failure.

Naruto then moved in at full speed, aiming a thrust at the center of the Jonin's chest with his blade. Kakashi grabbed hold of Naruto's wrist, however, pulling the scimitar out of its intended target. Naruto gave a powerful jerk, tearing his wrist from his former sensei's grip. He then spun, attempting a slash that would carve through the man's chest.

The act never worked, for Kakashi met the spin with a kick to the blond's shoulder, stopping the slash all together. Now on the offensive, Kakashi moved behind his student. A kunai was in his hand the next moment, thrusting forward to bury itself in the small of Naruto's back. The jinchuuriki defended by slipping the flat of his blade behind him to turn away the stab. There was the distinctive ringing of metal on metal, signifying that the block was successful.

Still, Kakashi didn't let up. A kick to the back of Naruto's knee almost sent the boy into a heap, but he gritted his teeth and stayed on his feet. Soon after, a heavy roundhouse crashed into Naruto's side and sent him tumbling. The blond easily rolled to his feet, only to find him self on the defense once more. A kick barely missed his head as he ducked at the last second. His forearms came up and blocked a textbook spinning backhand that would have knocked some of his teeth out. His hands occupied, Naruto was forced to roll under another kick as Kakashi spun back to face him.

Now on his back, Naruto looked up to see Kakashi's foot raised to deliver a high ax kick. Naruto growled and quickly brought his sword up to block. A split second later Kakashi's foot slammed into the flat of the blade, halted by the steel. Naruto then smirked, for Kakashi made a mistake that many had made before him.

Naruto's free hand came up and slapped the other side of the scimitar's blade. Then Kakashi was flipped backwards as his foot was caught in another ball of compressed wind. He found himself in the worst possible place now: upside-down in mid air, with his back towards Uzumaki Naruto.

His fears were met by a huge pressure slamming into his back. He gave a cry of surprise as he was thrown even farther into the air. He tried to right himself in the middle of flight, but he suddenly found Naruto directly behind him.

_Shit_, was all Kakashi could manage before three clones surrounded him. Two grabbed hold of his arms and legs, while the third moved behind the real Naruto. Kakashi was not able to see what was happening at this point. He tried to wrestle himself out of the clones' grip, but they had him beat in the strength department.

Meanwhile, Naruto was forming a Rasengan behind Kakashi. However, instead of using it on the silver-haired Jonin, he thrust it upwards, right into the stomach of his clone. The clone did not disperse; no, it had too much chakra in it to be destroyed that easily. It instead seemed to be focusing on something.

That something was using wind manipulation to keep itself from spinning due to the Rasengan.

Instead, Naruto began to spin himself; very, very fast, at that. Then the Rasengan exploded, propelling Naruto down at his old sensei. The boy went slamming into Kakashi's back feet first, spinning like a top. In turn, Kakashi went spiraling down, the two clones holding his limbs dispersing into clouds of smoke. The Jonin crashed into the ground a second later, the force behind his propulsion smashing the ground to bits and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Naruto landed safely. He then turned towards the dust cloud and whispered, "Uzumaki Gijutsu: Senpuuya (Uzumaki Technique: Whirlwind Arrow)."

"Nice technique," a voice called from behind Naruto. The blond immediately blocked the fist that was to slam into the back of his neck with the palm of his hand. He was not surprised to find Kakashi standing there, not a new scratch on him.

"Kawirimi (Replacement)," Naruto said, to which Kakashi nodded.

"I must say," the Jonin began. "That attack would have done me some good damage. Hell, _it did._ I was only able to use Kawarimi to avoid getting planted into the ground. That tornado kick dug quite deep into my back." To prove it, Kakashi leaned forward a bit to show his back. There was a hole in the back of his Jonin vest that went through all the layers of clothes underneath as well. The skin under it sported a terrible brush burn, parts of which were bleeding either steadily or lazily.

Naruto pulled his arm back to then punch the man and continue their battle, but Kakashi held his hands up in surrender.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked cautiously. Kakashi was a pretty unpredictable figure that, while Naruto had been under his tutelage, he didn't know much about. He was a world-class ninja, and that was all that mattered to Naruto. Shinobi of that caliber could exploit any weakness his or her enemy presented at any time. He did not want it to be one of those times.

Smiling a bit, Kakashi said, "I think that's all for me Naruto. I need to get to a medic. Like I said, I may have dodged getting planted into the ground, but you still delivered that kick. Being in the business as long as me, you know when you're hurt. I have a few torn muscles in my back now. Fighting at this level will only make them worse. I didn't even want to fight you in the first place, so I don't think worsening my wounds is worth it."  
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, trying to see if he was lying. He wasn't able to tell for sure, but it looked like he was being truthful. Naruto let out a sigh and waved the older man off. If the Jonin felt that bad about fighting him, then he didn't need to continue this any further.

"So...what about the team?"

The one who spoke was Sakura. She stood behind the two, looking very uneasy as Naruto made eye contact with her.

"This whole thing was necessary. I wanted to get our bad blood out into the open so we can put it behind us," Naruto suddenly said, which surprised both Kakashi and Sakura. "Sakura, what you did to me three years ago was deplorable. You spat in my face after I did exactly what you asked me to do. I had half expected it of course, but by that point I was in no mood for it. I had been stabbed in the chest with a chidori twice that day, by a person who I had started seeing as a brother. That notion is gone now, just so you know. Hell, that day I would have been happy if you hadn't said anything at all. I was so tired that I didn't want to do anything but collapse into a bed."

Naruto was looking at Sakura in the eyes the entire time he spoke. She held his gaze, but she held a guilty look to end all guilty looks. She broke eye contact out of shame, but Naruto grabbed her chin gently and brought her eyes back to him.

"There is no excuse for what you did, Sakura. But I'm willing to move past it, because people can change. I have faith in myself and you to grow stronger from this," Naruto nearly whispered. Sakura almost blushed due to the how intensely the blond was staring at her.

Kakashi thankfully saved her by giving a short cough. Naruto's look lingered on her for another moment, then he gave his attention to his old teacher.

"So...does that mean that we are a team again?" Kakashi asked slowly. The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a kunai.

The blue-eyed shinobi was silent. Then, "I guess I could give it another go. Teaming up with Kakashi means that we could be going on some dangerous missions." He tried to put on a smile but Sakura could tell it wasn't completely sincere.

Kakashi broke out into an eye smile at the comment. "Good," he said. "I guess we're Team Kakashi, then. I'll catch you two later, I need to get my back checked out." Then he was gone, leaving Naruto and Sakura on their own. The two looked at each other in silence.

"Naruto...I'm sorr-," Sakura tried to get out, but Naruto silenced her with a raising of his hand.

Looking down at the shorter girl, Naruto said, "Don't, Sakura. Just don't. I know you want to get all that guilt off your chest, but saying sorry would be getting rid of it with a lie. You don't understand just how big of an impact your words had on me, Sakura. Back then, I would have gladly died for you. I was too stupid to ever see that you had no interest in me. Still, I thought you did and I desperately tried to make you happy. First was when I went and got Tsunade to come back and heal Sasuke. Then I tried again when I brought back Sasuke. I got thanks for neither, Sakura. For the latter you actually yelled at me for doing what I promised to do.

"Normally I would have simply took it. But that mission changed me, Sakura. I saw things that you did not. Sasuke had been completely willing to kill me just to get Orochimaru's power. I fought him at a time where even you would have been afraid of him. The things he said and did...sometimes they give me nightmares. Not because the acts themselves scared me, Sakura. No, it was the one who did them that did. My _best friend_ was trying to kill me. For a moment, he succeeded. I was stone cold dead."

Sakura's eyes widened. Naruto had..._died_? Sasuke had actually killed him? No, that could never happen. Sasuke was his friend!

Nodding at the look of horror on Sakura's face, Naruto continued. "I died on that mission, Sakura. For a short while in that fight with Sasuke, my heart literally stopped beating.. I feel lucky to even be standing here today. Despite that, I still soldiered on and beat Sasuke. I brought him back, but you didn't care about that. You cared that I brought him back injured. I don't understand why you wouldn't realize that we'd have to fight if I were to take him back. Fights usually involve injuries."

"I...I get the point Naruto. I acted completely out of line. But you have to understand! We were only thirteen Naruto, I was so confused-"

"Sakura, that's enough," Naruto said, and Sakura fell into silence. "I know that you feel sorry for it now. Me, I'm still a bit bitter about it. I probably will always be a bit bitter about it. The best we can do in this situation is just see where this team goes. If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds, then everything will be okay. Let's just get on with our lives. The past is the past, and the future is much more important. Okay?"

She didn't look at him, but she still nodded her head. He saw tears drip from her down turned face and moisten the ground. He sighed and then pulled her towards him. Surprised, Sakura looked up at Naruto, finding herself pressed against his chest.

Naruto never looked at her. He only spoke.

"Don't cry for me, Sakura. I don't want them. Just try to make this work. Work hard, Sakura. Show me you actually have grown up. 'Cuz your chest sure doesn't show it."

Despite having to then dodge Sakura's barrage of angry punches, Naruto was laughing. The first time in three years.

**END OF LIVING 2**

Well if anyone ever read the first version of this chapter, Naruto came off as sort of a dick. That's not what I'm going for at the moment. I want him to start off as sort a much more mature version of his younger self that also has his dark moments. Eventually Naruto's personality will start to go downhill, starting off as a dick and going lower into a more...interesting Naruto...


End file.
